Blu ray recorder

Xygthophase3

Hi there I was looking into purchasing a blu ray recorder hdd multi region DVD with 2 scart adaptors.I can't find any in Ireland.I came across the Panasonic dmr bwt 700eb in the uk,I spoke to a few dealers in uk who told me it wouldn't work properly here,then I came across a dmr bwt 700ec from pixmania I think it's French,my understanding is France&ireland are mpeg4,has anyone bought one of these models and if so do they work here.I'm told for a device to work here it needs mpeg4,mheg5,dvb-t-t2,h.264 level4,avc,he-aac(aac+).what I want to do is I have a collection of VHS tapes I want to record onto blu ray disc,I also want to record tv programmes onto blu ray disc.I have sky+ and a 7 year old Sony sdtv just waiting for it to give up the ghost before I buy HDTV.Any advice or alternate options would be greatly appreciated

Tea 1000

Xygthophase3 wrote: »

Hi there I was looking into purchasing a blu ray recorder hdd multi region DVD with 2 scart adaptors.I can't find any in Ireland.I came across the Panasonic dmr bwt 700eb in the uk,I spoke to a few dealers in uk who told me it wouldn't work properly here,then I came across a dmr bwt 700ec from pixmania I think it's French,my understanding is France&ireland are mpeg4,has anyone bought one of these models and if so do they work here.I'm told for a device to work here it needs mpeg4,mheg5,dvb-t-t2,h.264 level4,avc,he-aac(aac+).what I want to do is I have a collection of VHS tapes I want to record onto blu ray disc,I also want to record tv programmes onto blu ray disc.I have sky+ and a 7 year old Sony sdtv just waiting for it to give up the ghost before I buy HDTV.Any advice or alternate options would be greatly appreciated

I think using blank Blu-Rays as your media is a bad idea. Firstly they are very costly, and secondly they're actually quite hard to come by. They also won't be around forever. You're best bet is to go for hard disk to back up your VHS tapes.
To be honest, that Panasonic unit is very good, but very dear. Most new TV's now allow you to record directly onto a hard disk. So your cheapest option would be a regular blu-ray player for playing back blu-rays, a hard disk solution for recording live TV, and pay someone to back up your VHS collection to a hard disk.
I assume the footage on VHS is all from camcorder? Because it's not a great idea to bother with backing up films from VHS. The quality is poor enough as it is and will get much worse in the conversion, and you'll end up with large files and you'll be paying money to do it. You'd re-buy most old films from play.com on DVD for less than a fiver I'd say.

Xygthophase3

Thanks tea 1000 for the info and advice I found a multi region DVD dmr bwt 700 in uk for £359 maplin in blanchardstown sell blank blu ray or uk selling 25 pack for £45

BostonB

Why blu ray?

Xygthophase3

Storage capacity and I'm told blu ray have a long archival life I want to record programmes that are 3-4 hours long

BostonB

Why not Hard Drive? Isn't that cheaper per MB/GB? Much more convenient too.

Xygthophase3

I'm not sure what the best option is I want to record f1 and afl from my sky+ I also have region 4 DVDs I want to watch hence multi region DVD

GOODME

Xygthophase3 any luck?

I am also thinking of buying a recorder to record programs esp documentaries from my sky+? will prefer to record and put on dvd.

Anyone know the cheapest I can use to do this?

Xygthophase3

Hi goodme I went ahead and purchased the Panasonic dmr bwt 700 eb from multi region magic in uk not cheap €475 including postage it will play and record DVD and blu ray it can also play multi region DVD I had it connected playing DVD and bd I have a friend coming over on Wednesday to help me set it up to record I've been told it's not soarview compatible hd programmes may be copy protected but I just want to connect it to my sky+ and record programmes to blu ray because I can get 13 hours sdtv onto bd I will let you know how I get on with recording

Fingleberries

Hi All,

I have been looking into this as I am planning on buying a new PVR to replace my existing DVD / HDD Recorder (as it's not Saorview compatible). Anyway - I am watching out for a PVR that would meet all of the following criteria:

• Capable of viewing and recording Saorview Channels
• Capable of viewing and recording Freeview HD channels
• In-built Blu Ray player (to replace the DVD player in my current PVR for watching DVDs and adding a few BluRays to my collection).
• Dual tuner is a mustt hese days also.

I've seen a few on the market, but they seem pricey:
Panasonic DMR BWT800EB Blu ray Recorder Freeview+HD

Side Notes:

• I'm not too worried if it is not 100% Saorview approved, as long as the main functionality works (EPG, Digital Text and Series Link whenever it's available).
• Freeview HD would be useful because I'm in an area that is likely to get NI overspill - we receive all the terrestrial channels at the moment with good clarity, and had the UK digital channels recently during the good weather, and they're not at full power yet.
  
• I was hoping for something cheaper (and don't need the 3D maguffins, either)
• Panasonic also have a sketchy past with Saorview compatibility, too.

Does anyone have any other recommendations? Personal Experience?
Or should we just sit tight until October to wait and see what's out there?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

tmull

I have had a Panasonic DMr 750 Blu-ray recorder with twin Freesat tuners now for about six months. Recording is outstanding especially in HD.As my five year old Sony dvd recorder finally packed up after burning at least 3000 discs I looked around for a replacement. As I had been following the treads here on Freeview+ and Saorview I had an idea of what would work and what would not. I settled on the Panasonic DMR 720 and accepted delivery on Thursday.This has twin Freeview + tuners and a 1TB hhd. It is not Saorview approved ,I believe because Panasonic will not acceed to the exorbiedient fee that is required to obtain this. However it works a treat in picture quality and on decoding the text. What is missing is the EPG for the Saorview channels.As I record a lot of films from my motorised satellite system the large hhd was a magor consideration for me.It does that job to my complete satisfaction. As the pound ,euro exchange rate is now so poor I actually sourced it here in Ireland at a far better deal than I could obtain in the UK.The point of this post is to confirm that Freeview+ ,at least as in the Panasonics decodes the Saorview channels.If any tecnical audio guys are reading this could you help me please@ I have a Phillips soundbar which has no optical audio input. As I have two bluray recorders and a HD satellite receiver is there any switch available that will accept three coaxial inputs to one coaxial output. I could get an optical switch easily but cannot find the coaxial one. Or any other method if one can be accepted. TMULL

newleaf

Was also thinking of getting the Panasonic DMR 720. Concerned about a few things, maybe you could help -
1. Do Saorview channels get permanently assigned to the 800 range or can user change this?
2. When a prog is recorded (in the DR mode which seems obligatory) can it be watched in that mode before the "conversion" process is used or does conversion happen automatically?
3. any trouble with copy protected HD programmes?
4. does the "conversion" process always have to take place before copying to DVD or Blu-Ray. Seems cumbersome as it takes place in real time when machine in standby.
Thanks in advance!

tmull

Newleaf,I havent tried to alter the configuration on the channel numbering. As there are so few stations on the Saorview package it is not a major issue for me. And yes playback from the hhd is broadcast quality but with RTE2 the only HD channel it is the only one that gives full quality to the playback.However as the recorder upscales the sd pictures the playback from other channels is also pretty impressive. I have more HD channels on my 750 as it is a freesat box. I agree the file conversion is a bit confusing and to be thruthfull I still havent come to terms with it.Be aware that Panasonic is dropping their Freesat bluray recorders and have given away somewhat to the pressure of the American movie industry in limiting their connectivity in the 720.The only way to connect any external boxes is now down to two scart inputs.Samsung ,to maintain their American market have capatilated almost completely to the pressure and most Samsung boxes cannot accept any other input. This is basically to prevent copying on to other media.As I said earlier I have the 750 and the 720. I wish the 750 had the 1tb hhd but I manage fairly well with the 250 on the 750 as I either copy to dvd or eliminate some content to keep a bit of space. Good luck with your purchase if you decide to buy. TMULL

tmull

I posted above that the 720 had limited epg content.Sorry for that but on reading the manual a bit more I discovered I was trying to access the wrong way. The epg is one of the best I have come across as as far as I can see the whole days programmes are displayed. The manuals for these two boxes are very complicated. I own the Freesat 750 now for about six months but am still learning new features about it.I would recommend any of these two to members. TMULL

newleaf

Thanks for that! Do I take it then that if you record something even in HD, you can watch it back immediately without having to wait for conversion to take place? Is conversion only an issue when you want to copy to DVD/Blu Ray?
Yes I agree about manuals and features - I've an an analogoue DVD Recorder for over a year with Hard Disk, and I'm still learning. At least I'll be familiar with Panasonic interface. I presume you can still name recordings, delete ads etc?

tmull

Newleaf,Yes you can watch a HD programme in its full broadcast quality as often as you like.I got a present of a few blank bluray discs on buying the 720 but I still have not used them.I have used a fair few dvds and have many options. To keep the highest quality on serious stuff I want to keep I can set the quality by selecting one of the many speeds.The list includes for recording bluray(I think)DR_HG_HX_HE_HL AND HM. For recording on to dvd you have the followinf choices XP_SP_LP_EP and FR.As an example I recorded the five epesodes of The Wonders of the Solar System from BBC Four on to dvds in the highest quality available in the dvd range,that is XP. this means that a one hour programwill fill the entire 4.5gbs available on a recordable dvd. If by chance the program was even one minute over the hour the Panasonic will tell you it cannot do it at that setting but can do it on the next one down. The dvd on XP has wonderful detail,almost HD quality.The editing features are more than anyone needs, Titles can be named,elimited,partially deleted for the ads etc ,divided,locked and a host of other things. To get a really good review of any of these boxes just Google :Brian Lees Panasonic Bluray recorder reviews: It is part of the Amazon website.Hope this post is useful to you.TMULL

tmull

Another update on the DMR720. As I would not normally record from any Saorview channels.I assumed that this would be normal on such a high-teck machine. My granddaughter asked me to record the Saturday movie from RTE at the weekend and the machine did the job as asked. On putting the recording on to dvd I became aware that the picture was recording but not the audio. I ended up with a film on dvd but no sound on it. I spent yesterday going into the menu and altering the audio parameters in every possible way but all Saorview channels record and playback perfectly on the hhd but remain silent on recording to dvds.Recordings from my satellite boxes through the av inputs are perfect on hhd and dvd. Got on to the Panasonic store this morning to be informed that they are aware of the problem and are awaiting a responce from Panasonics teck dept. and that they will be in touch in the near future. I shall post again on the action they might come up with. At the moment the box is not fit for purpose. TMULL

newleaf

Thanks for update, reckon I won't buy yet so. What mode were you recording on? A high def option or standard DVD? To Blu Ray Disc or to DVD? Happening on HD (RTE 2) and/or SD? Thanks for link to Brian Lee's reviews on Amazon. Impressive. Maybe he'd have an idea what's happening.

tmull

All channels on the Saorview package.Ordinary dvds.I almost always use -rs. I set the mode to sp and I recorded a clip from all channels. No problem playing back from the hhd and the quality of picture on the dvd is up to standard.It just will not record the audio.A clip alongside any of these on the hdd records as expected.It is very hard to explain if one set of audio that was put on the hhd from the av input can record on to dvd how come audio from the tuner itself wont record? Panasonic will have to put their heads together on this one.TMULL

tmull

No fix yet. On contacting the dealer on Monday I was told that they were awaiting a responce from Panasonic.Not hearing anything I phoned yesterday to be told that a girl in the shop had being playing around with the settings and sorted the problem but unfortunatly took herself off to the Olimpics and they do not know what she did.Yes,and I was born yesterday. Having spent most of last Monday playing around with the settings in the menu I again spent most of yesterday afternoon altering audio in the menu and testing but to no avail.I emailed the store this morning to state that to me the box is not fit for purpose and I dont intend to be stuck with it. Is there any member reading these posts that owns a Panasonic 720 box? I would love to know weather the problem is specific to my box or is it a problem with all of them.TMULL

tmull

Progress at last.The dealer tested in the shop and says he has no problem.Also that he has no negitive feedback. He suggested as he had made the connection with a scart lead would I disconnect the hmdi and test with the scart.As the lead is the only way for the box to communicate to the tv it couldent have any way of interfering with what the box puts on the harddrive.Having connected the scart I recorded about ten clips from Saorview channels. I also recorded two from a satellite box through the av ports as another test. To my horror all Saorview clips had perfect picture and no sound on any of them. The two av clips played back perfectly. I packed it in at midnight and had another go this morning. Lo and behold all ten clips had sound on the hhd and on burning on to a dvd recorded as they should. I am now a bit baffled but as I leave my Bluray recorders ion stand-by all night as per instructions in the manual I now believe that I have a file conversion problem that can be sorted out in the menu (if I knew how) If I can record on to dvd a day after recording I will manage that.As there is no recent input to this post in all probality I am talking to my self so I shall cease posting on this topic unless someone can help or needs advice. Goodbye to anyone who reads this.TMULL

newleaf

Hi, glad to see you've made some progress even if you're not quite sure why! In the end I postponed getting the box for now, but did look up Brian Lee's reviews of the machine on Amazon as you suggested and put the problem to him (not mentioning you specifically). Here's his reply, more questions than answers but it might help. Maybe you could have a look at his posts on Amazon and clarify anything for him:

"Sorry about the delay in replying - been a bit busy - and your query is not a trivial one ...

It is difficult for me to diagnose from a distance - and I know very little detail about Saorview but here goes ...

I need clarification of exactly what your contact was trying to do. Was it:

copy an HD programme to DVD or
copy an SD programme to DVD

and was it definitely a DVD he was trying to copy to or a BD? (Some people use DVD as a generic term for "disc")

and was it a DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW or DVD+RW?

And when he says the sound is "gone" - was it OK if playing the disc on the Panny but gone on a different player? Or was the sound missing even if playing back on the Panny?

If it was an HD programme - did it have Dolby Digital sound originally?

If it was HD and using Dolby Digital sound originally and was being copied to BD in HG, HX, HE, HL or HM mode (for playing back OK on a standard Blu-Ray player) then there is an option for setting the audio during conversion to 2-channel, because if the original audio has "less than 5.1 channels" or if the audio sampling frequency is not 48kHz then (it says) "some audio channels cannot be recorded".

Function Menu - Others - Setup - Sound - Audio for HG/HX .../HM Recording

If it was HD and using Dolby Digital sound originally and was being copied to DVD-R, it needed to be converted to SP or XP prior to copying (I always use convert-in-standby as the resultant copy to DVD is very fast). In which case there are options to downmix the audio to ordinary stereo or Surround Encoded stereo using:

Function Menu - Others - Setup - Sound - Downmix

It is possible that the player and/or audio system used for playback can't handle Surround Encoded stereo (although I have never come across any problem with this before.

If the programme ws being copied to DVD+/-RW then I'm not sure how this would work out! I would try a copy to DVD-R as being the best type of DVD to try copying to.

Hope this gives you some ideas where to start looking!"

tmull

Newleaf,Very interesting responce. I did try to post on his website but about four weeks ago I got a nasty virus on my computor.This virus had my computor repair man in a fix and I had to give him permission to wipe my harddrive.And I was supposed to be procted by McFee. Since then I have major problems with my computor so I couldent contact Brian on his site. I shall try again tomorrow. An update on my situation is ,say I record three clips or programmes.Maybe one is as it should be but the other two have no sound on the hhd. Today I recorded four bits of the London olimpics. Two played back ok and two played back with no sound including Katies boxing final. The owner of the Panasonic store is having similar problems in the store and was expecting some definate news from Panasonic by last Wednersday but I havent heard from him since. I shall speak to him tomorrow and post here again. Initially I deleted the clips that had no sound but over the past two weeks I have kept all on the harddrive to be able to prove my point if push comes to shove.Having the 750 as well as the 720 gives me a bit of advantage on the experience side and I am now convinced that it is not a menu setting problen but more likely a software problem. The box received a software upgrade over the internet about a week ago and I thought that was the fix but alas no.Thank you for your input. TMULL

tmull

Newleaf,A further update for you.I left the box in standby mode after Katies fight yesterday.As I said it recorded without sound but on powering up the box last night I was admazed to find that all the clips that I recorded yesterday now had sound. I always set the Record mode to Sp and I find that on the HHD if the recording does be in SP that the sound is ok but I now find that even though the Rec.mode is set to SP it sometimes records in DR.If it records in DR the sound seems to be missing.As the box is then powered down the conversion takes place in standby mode and on powering up again the sound is there. At least after yesterdays experience it seems the only logical explaination to me. On checking today the only clips on my HHD without sound are those recorded on or before the 3-8-2012. Which may suggest why I received a software update last week. I spoke to the store manager this morning and he addmitted that they were having problems in the store as well. He is in touch with Panasonic who are trying to replicate the problem for themselves. I have offered my box with all the recorded clips to the store and to Panasonic to test if required. I am a member of Amazon but I cannot for some reason get into Brians full reviews where I was going to tell him the problem directly. I have a feeling that his question and answer section may have been deleted. If there is any further news I shall post here. I wish some other owner would come on board so we could jointly sort out the problems. Thank you again for your help and input.TMULL

tmull

Box now over a month old and still having some problems. I thought the software upgrade was the fix but not a complete one. Most of my recordings if they do not have sound on the hhd immediatly after the recording finishes(some do,some dont)usually have it restored overnight as the box is in standby.On Sunday just before I went out I set the recorder to record two programmes at the same time.It recorded as set up but sound only on the tuner 1 recording and no sound on tuner 2 recording. 48hours later the sound has not appeared.Three weeks now for Panasonic to come up with a solution. I can record the Saorview channels no bother from my Tecnomate 6900 witch has an MPG 4 tuner and is connected to both of my Panasonic boxes through their av ports.Why the 720 wont do what it is supposed to do has me beat. If I get any decent news I shall post it here.TMULL

tmull

Newleaf, I managed to find the page I was looking for on Brians site but when I tried to post a question to him all I could find was a little box about 2inches high and about 1.5 inches across to write my question in . Am I doing something wrong? TMULL

newleaf

Re the Amazon little box I think it's just a matter of typing your message - it all goes in but you can only see a bit of it at a time. Strange I know.
I was in Limerick last Sat and called into the Panasonic Store to see the machine for myself and ask a few questions. They were well aware of the problems (presumably through you!) and I was impressed by their approach. One of the shop assistants had taken it home to work through the problems and while I think she had some success (I think in getting sound on HDD) I don't think she was entirely happy that the sound issue was resolved when archiving to DVD. The matter is ongoing!
It's surely a pity as it seems to be the only decent machine out there that can record digital TV and archive to built in disc player. Do you know if similar problems happen with the 700 machine, or earlier Freeview HD machines?
She reckons Panasonic won't do one specifically for Ireland as the market isn't big enough and Saorview compliance certification is very expensive.

tmull

I am not familar with any of the other Panasonic Freeview recorders. The 750 that I own since January is a brilliant machine.It does everything that it is supposed to do but is a Freesat box rather than a Freeview one.I would be unlikely to record any decent amount of material from the Saorview package anyway and if I did want to keep anything I would record it through the av ports of the machine from the Saorview package on my Tecnomate 6900HD satellite receiver.My main satellite receiver is a Spiderbox 9000 linked up to a motorised 1.2 meter Channel Master dish covering the arc from 42E to 30W. I receive some wonderful film packages so you can see how insignifent the Saorview package is to me.Hopefully the issiues with the 720 will be resolved soon but if not I think I shall stick with it as it does enough for me.It is a horrible morning here in Cobh Co. Cork this morning.Hopefully you are enjoying better weather. Thank you again for your input and help.TMULL

tmull

Got an email from the Panasonicstore that a Panasonic rep had called to them to invistagate the problem.As the store has a box connected up and showing similar problems to mine the rep was stumpped. It is now in the hands of the Tech.Dept of Panasonic and the store manager is hopeful of a solution sooner rather than later. Logically if one thinks about it they have a fairly big problem on their hands.As I see it if the solution is not found the box surely will have to be withdrawn from the Irish market.Then they will have to decide what to do with the customers that already have the box? I am grateful that I bought in Ireland as if I had bought in the UK I believe I now would not be in a position to anything about it. All my emails have been forwarded to the Panasonic people so until I get an update there is no point in posting here again.As for not being Saorview approved I do no blame Panasonic for that. Apparently the approval process has a fee of 25000Euro. This fee was mostly likely set at the height of the Celtic Tiger and is a classic example of Rip-off Ireland at its best.You would have to sell an awful lot of recorders to get that kind of lolly back. TMULL

tmull

Latest news is that someone in Panasonic is reffering the problem back to the factory engineers.More or less admitting that their UK technicians hadent a clue about the problem.I rather expected this to be the case. Their initial responce was that it was designed for the UK market,but that dident wear. After all they released it on the Irish market and I believe if I had purchased in the UK Panasonic would in all probility still trot out that excuse. The responce from the factory engineers we hope will be sooner rather than later as on now I believe sales of this product are on hold. I have informed Panasonic UK of the negitive publicity the box is receiving here in Ireland.TMULL

newleaf

Thanks for the valuable updates! Yes, cost of Saorview certification is prohibitive, but you'd think they'd produce a model for the Irish market that is Saorview compatible even if it doesn't have the official badge, as was the case with the Viera TV I have. No one seems to be doing a hard disk recorder with DVD archiving that's compatible - I'd love one with two tuners even if it only archived to standard DVD. A lot of what you find online just has analogue or Freeview, neither of which gets Saorview. Surely some brand could find a market for a machine that does Freeview HD in GB and Irish spillover areas, and that gets Saorview in the Republic. In the meantime it's a watching brief! The 720
is too expensive to take a chance with. I wonder if earlier BluRay recorders had similar problem?